Official Detroit Pistons thread

[BJK]

Balsa started 20 of 24 games at FSU this past season (though Hamilton is a heavy rotation guy, so minutes generally stay low across the board). He’s actually a surprisingly athletic and nimble big guy at 7’1”. A fun fact - he was HS teammates with Cade for a year at Monteverde. Needs development for sure, but has some tools.

[jaadam4]

I have less confidence that all the cap space will get the Pistons two max guys this summer. Most of the time the best guys get extended or the agents start working the back channels to the teams they want to go to and that team figures how to open up space to get the guy.

Very rarely is there a situation where the amount of cap space available by team determines where the best free agents go in any off-season. That was how it went down 20 years ago, but it really hasn't been like that for a long time.

Cap space alone won't entice a couple of players to come the Pistons, but if Cunningham good out of the shoot and the 4 rookies progress so they are a playoff team then you might have a couple of players that decide they want to team up to go to the Detroit.

It depends on how Cade looks. If he shows that he’s the real deal early on there’s a chance we could land 2 players like that. Having this many talented young players including 1 potential star gives us a legit shot at a unique situation. King is right, most of the good / great teams are cap strapped.

The Pistons have a little time to put things together before the kids need new contracts. Hell they could even front load contracts to make it easier to keep high priced free agents after our young guys need new deals

[whatever_gong82]

For the first time since the end of the "Going To Work" era, the Detroit Pistons have hope in making some serious noise in the NBA.

We're almost out of the sewer of mediocrity, but Cade has got to work, or we're back to Square One.

[Cody_Russell]

Pistons signed UDFA Chris Smith from UCLA.
My only recollection about Smith is how the TV broadcast brought up his name in every UCLA tourney game with the context: “Look how far UCLA advanced in the tourney DESPITE losing Chris Smith for the season.”
Smith apparently was a productive starter before tearing his ACL early in the season.

Echoing comments about Livers.
High character. Will be a quality guy to have in the system. Best case is Livers will be a 3 and D rotational wing for the Pistons. If anyone watched the Suns playoff run… maybe Cameron Johnson is Livers’ best case scenario? The great thing about Livers is he doesn’t need the ball to be effective. You have Killian and Cade for that role. Livers developed an efficient jump shot in his time at M.
Michigan was hurt when Livers went down with that injury. It lowered the ceiling of the tourney run. If healthy, it’s a Final 4 team. Beilein probably had some influence in the pick. Love it from a heart and biased perspective.

[Futureshock]

Good ol Dort Highway stripclubs. That was the only good thing about Flint. I got my window shot out leaving one a bunch of years back.

You did some bs in there. WTF comes out of a strip club shooting out somebody's window? You know people GIVE them money, not TAKE it, Joker.

It's not our fault you don't know where to go. Flint was fun back then.

[froot loops]

It depends on how Cade looks. If he shows that he’s the real deal early on there’s a chance we could land 2 players like that. Having this many talented young players including 1 potential star gives us a legit shot at a unique situation. King is right, most of the good / great teams are cap strapped.

The Pistons have a little time to put things together before the kids need new contracts. Hell they could even front load contracts to make it easier to keep high priced free agents after our young guys need new deals

I agree with most of this, but I would say that being cap strapped is not the impediment that it once.was. The key is first and foremost you need to the player to want to come there. If a player is good enough and wants to go to the cap strapped team, that team finds a way to make space. It's not like back in the day where Orlando cleared a ton of space and they recruited McGrady, Hill and Duncan and nearly got all three based on cap space.

One other thing to consider, who is actually going to be a free agent. The potential free agent list looks a lot better than it will be due to the money the team can pay the player to stay. Is Beal going to turn down the extra 50 million he can get from Washington or wherever he is traded to(maybe GSW) to go to Detroit. It seems unlikely, it is 100 percent certain that the Wizards will offer the max for him.

[Cody_Russell]

Yeah that’s the key. You need interest from players to come to Detroit even with the cap space. I’m hopeful that free agents will want to sign with the Pistons. Wishful thinking with Cade and the young players here.
Correct me if I’m wrong… the last four big free agents the Pistons have signed are: Ben Gordon, Charlie V, Josh Smith, and J Grant. Not exactly the biggest names that title contenders go after.

Pistons just need to hit on these under-the-radar free agents. Spend smartly, like they MIGHT have on Grant.

There are a couple moveable contracts left on the Pistons. Joseph and McGruder. If the Pistons want to make a splash now, they could…. Leaning towards the idea that it’ll be next offseason. Never know with Troy Weaver.

[Da Geezer]

I don't think they have a chance at Beal.

I hope not.

Beal was poison on the National Team before he "withdrew". I think you are entirely too sanguine about Beal getting $ 50 mill from Washington. Just my opinion.

[froot loops]

When they signed Charlie V and Gordon, they were literally the top free agents available. If you look at the potential free agents in 2022, it is a whos who of the NBA. Most of them won't make free agency due to extensions or not wanting to opt of the player option. You are looking at two types of players, young guys that aren't players but will get overpaid if they hit unrestricted free agency and old veteran players who are still good but you are taking on bad money to get two good years. The first group are Ben Gordon/Charlie V types and the second group are guys like Chris Paul/Westbrook. I don't see young max contract type players making free agency, guys like Beal and Lavine. If they do and the Pistons get one of them, that is great and I would love to eat crow. The key is not overpaying if you don't land guys like that. Also, I wouldn't pin a strategy on getting two max players next season, meaning if someone pretty good becomes available this year you should take it.

The free agency issue for Pistons isn't really a Detroit problem. It's a problem for every team not residing in Miami or LA. The New York teams have not been destinations with the exception of Durant/Irving and that was Durant and Irving coming up with a team they wanted to go to.

[chemiclord]

The salary cap has NEVER prevented any team in any sport from getting the players they want. It might make them have to decide what players are important, but not whether or not they can.

[chemiclord]

Garza is a total longshot to do much, but he did shoot 44 percent from three in his final year. That was an outlier from his normal production. You never know who can make it, in the Finals, Ayton got in foul trouble in two games and in one game the Sun's were relying on Frankie K Into guarding Giannis and he did a serviceable job.

That's kinda the thrust of it.

He's a big man that can stretch the court. That's worth taking a flyer on just to see what happens, even if the odds of him sticking around aren't great (and they probably aren't).

[Futureshock]

NBA Draft: Detroit Pistons select Michigan sharpshooter Isaiah Livers with 42nd pick

[froot loops]

I hope not.

Beal was poison on the National Team before he "withdrew". I think you are entirely too sanguine about Beal getting $ 50 mill from Washington. Just my opinion.

Maybe, but the Wizards are trying to get the max extension right now. He is going to balk at it this summer and if the Wizards don't think he is going to sign the 5 year max next summer the Warriors will and will gladly give up some pupu platter to get him and sign the extension.

[Futureshock]

NBA Draft: Detroit Pistons select Luka Garza with 52nd pick

[froot loops]

Also I didn't hear about Beal being poison on the national team before. Maybe DaGeezer has some more insight to it. He exited the Olympic team because he tested positive for COVID. DaGeezer puts withdrew in quotes as if there was some other nefarious reason than testing positive for the virus.